Wednesday, 21 December 2011

This dish is something that I remember from my childhood days. Whenever Ma would have lot of work from school and would not have time to cook, Dad would bring this and roti from a small roadside restaurant near our house at Kharagpur.
Those days restaurants and Cafes were not as common as they are today and Kharagpur being a very small place there is still scarcity of restaurants.
Today I don't know why I felt like preparing that and below is what I came up with:

It became a bit more watery than what I actually wanted. But thats fine coz I had prepared it for the first time and it tasted awesome.

- Pressure cook green moong dal for 4 whistles.Make sure it is poperly cooked and has got sort of a slippery texture.
- Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and curry leaves.
- When they splutter add onion and green chillies.
- When the onions turn golden add ginger garlic paste and tomatoes.
- When it is fried then add the cooked moong dal to it along with turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chhole masala.
- Mix it well and add half cup water.
- Close the lid and let it cook.
- In another pan heat 1 tsp oil and prepare scrambled eggs.
- Once the dal boils remove from heat. Add the scrambled eggs, garnish with coriander and serve hot whith roti.

Monday, 19 December 2011

I really dont know why this dish has such a wierd name. It might be because of its tangy taste.
I wanted to make something new with cauliflower today and came across this recipe over the web.This recipe belongs to "Sanjeev Kapoor" - the magician. I am his blind follower. I simply love the way he cooks and potrays himself in his cookery shows.
Gobi or cauliflower is a versatile vegetable.It can be used in yummy parathas, crunchy pakoras or just awesome vegetable side dishes.I like it because its fridge life is longer than other vegetables. :)

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Hello friends!!!! So how was your weekend?? Hope it was good with lots of good food.. :)
All I am thinking about these days is food. :p

One of my friends(Gargi) came over for lunch today at my place. She is a foodie and loves to have food prepared by me. :D I prepared "Mishti Polao" (Sweet rice) for her today. It is a traditional bengali dish. I got the recipe from my mother in law.At first when I heard the recipe I had to stop there and take a step back.
Sweet rice??? This cannot be a main course; has to be a dessert sort of thing. But my mother in law is a great cook. I tasted it for the first time and I was like OMG it tastes awesome.
This recipe has never let me down. It is quick and easy to prepare and goes well with any spicy fish curry or chicken curry.

- Soak basmati rice in water for 30 mins.
- Drain out the water, let it dry a bit and add turmeric powder and mix it well with the rice. This adds a very beautiful colour to the rice but does not effect its taste.
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a wok and add cashews and raisins. Fry for 2 mins and keep them aside.
- Add the remaining oil in the wok. Add cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaves.
- When it starts giving out a very good aroma put in the rice.
- Keep stirring on high flame so that the rice does not stick to the wok. Add salt and sugar and green chillies(slit).
- Once all the rice grains are covered with ghee add 5 cups of water and raisins and bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat and cover. Cook till the rice is completely cooked. Add cashews right away and your mishti polao is ready. :)

Thursday, 15 December 2011

We Indians love to have every Cuisine but it should be cooked in Indian Style... Am I right folks?
India is a country of flavours and colours, so why not add little bit of Indian flavour to the Chinese Cuisine.. :)

Today after giving a lot of thought to what I should prepare for dinner, I finally ended up preparing Chinese Hakka noodles and Chilli Eggs....Yes Chilli Eggs.. Hearing it for the first time? Don't worry it tastes good :)

Try to cut all the veggies into thin long pieces so that it looks uniform.
Noodles tend to stick to each other when boiled. To avoid this after boiling the noodles put it in some cold water. This will drain out the extra starch and it will not stick.

How I prepared it?

- Take oil in a wok
- When the oil is hot add onion, garlic, cabbage, carrots and toss. You have to be very careful that you don't overcook the veggies. Coz if you do overcook them it will lose the crispness.
- Add capsicum and the boiled noodles.
- Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar and white pepper powder and salt.Toss.
- If you are unable to toss, no problem you can take 2 spoons and mix it. Initially I used to find it very difficult to toss the veggies in the wok but you can master this technique through practice.
- If you want to add some colour to your noodles add yellow and red capsicum also. You can add all sorts of veggies that you want to.

In order to make chilli eggs first we shall prepare a pancake.
- Prepare a batter with 1 egg, flour, cornflour, finely chopped onions, green chili, carrots, soy sauce and little salt. Make sure the batter is not too watery as you have to make a pancake with that.
- Take a frying pan and put 2 tsp oil in it and let the oil heat up.
- Once the oil is hot put the batter in it in a circular fashion similar to how you prepare "Dosa".
- Cook both sides of the pancake.
- Once its done dice it into any shape of your choice. I personally prefer the diamond shape. :)

Now for making the gravy,
- Take 1 tsp cornflour and mix it with water.
- Take two tbsp oil in a wok.
- Add diced onions, carrots, capsicum and green chilli.
- Stir for 2 mins.
- Add soy sauce, tomato sauce, vinegar, salt to it and mix.Add 1/4 cup water.
- When it starts boiling add the cornflour.
- It will get a starchy look after some time. Thats when you should add your diced and cooked egg pancake and mix it well.

You can garnish it with Green Onion or slit green chillies.
One thing we should keep in mind while cooking Chinese is "Always cook it on high flame", even if it is the Indian version.

"Shorshe Rui"... Yes that is what it is called. It is one of the tastiest and easy to prepare bengali fish curries.

I used to hate fish as a kid...It was in college when I had to stay in Kolkata for a long 3 years when I fell in love with all sorts of fish curries.... The pic u can see above is how shorshe rui looks. I have taken it from the web. Shall post my shorshe rui pic once I prepare it next time....

This is also one of the first fish curries I ever tried preparing... So here it is for you -

Ingredients:

- Fish (4 pieces washed and cleaned)

-Green Chilli (3 or according to taste)

-Mustard(2 tsp)

-Turmeric powder(2tsp)

-Red Chilli Powder(1tsp)

-Salt(As per taste / 2tsp)

-Yoghurt(1/2 cup)

-Mustard Oil(1/2 cup)

-Vinegar (1 tsp). This is optional.

Method of preparing Mustard paste:

- Soak the mustard in water for an hour. Then grind the mustard in the grinder with one tsp vinegar and a green chilli.

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About Me

Hello all!
This is my place where you will find, not just lunch, but unique ways to add a 'touch' to your breakfast, dinner, snacks, drinks, desserts and much more....
I am a software engineer by profession and love cooking...
Cooking is something that makes me forget all my stress and tensions and helps me relax after a busy day....
This is for all you people who would love to learn cooking their own way....
So Happy Cooking.. ENJOY :)